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Where to Go for Live Cajun and Zydeco Music in Lafayette, LA
Rate it! Votes (0) | Comments (0) By FabulousTravel.com Photos: Mitch Mandell Posted August 6th, 2007 FabulousFoods.com Recommends: Who s Your Mama, Are You Catholic & Can You Make A Roux? (Book 2): A Cajun / Creole Family Album Cookbook, by Marcelle Bienvenu, (2008, Acadian House Publishing)	Who s Your Mama, Are You Catholic & Can You Make A Roux? (Book 2): A Cajun / Creole Family Album Cookbook

ACADIANA, LOUISIANA, USA -- Acadiana marches to the lively beat of Cajun and Zydeco music. Cajun music, an astounding blend of German, Spanish, Scottish, Irish, Anglo-American, Afro-Caribbean and American Indian influences with a base of French and French Acadian folk tradition, depends heavily on accordion, fiddle and triangle to create its unique sound. Zydeco adds the influences of black Creole music and a heavier dose of Afro-Caribbean rhythms and is characterized by the rhythm line of a metal washboard played with thimbles, spoons or bottle openers.

To hear some good Cajun music, try having a bite to eat with a side of dancing at Mulate's, Randol's or Prejeans restaurants, where the fare is hearty and spicy, and the dance floors are large.

Throughout their history Cajuns have gathered for viellées -- social gatherings centering around food and music. While these were often held at individual homes when the society was based on farming, today the viellées have morphed into social gatherings that usually take place at restaurants and festivals. No better example still exists than the Zydeco breakfasts that take place each Saturday morning at Café Des Amis in Breaux Bridge, featuring live zydeco music and Cajun breakfast delicacies such as boudin sausage and beignets.

Not hungry but still in the mood to dance? Head on over to the Blue Moon Saloon and Guest House for some of the area's best Cajun, Zydeco and Blues music. This unassuming nightclub, housed in the heart of one of Lafayette's older residential districts, is the real deal. Paul Simon's line about about "Dancing in the shadow of Clifton Chenier" kept coming to mind the entire evening I spent at the Blue Moon. As the night rolls on, the music never stops. One band member would take a break while another took his or her place, giving the crowd interruption-free dancing and fun.

For evening entertainment the whole family can enjoy, drive on over to the small town of Eunice for the weekly "Rendez-Vous des Cajuns" Cajun music radio and television show at the Liberty Theater. This grand old theater, constructed in 1924, has been a vaudeville house, a first-run movie venue, and a dollar cinema before finding new life as home to the Saturday-night broadcast featuring live bands.

No matter where you go in Acadiana, it's difficult to get away from beat of the washboard or the melody of the accordion, so why fight it? Put on your dancing shoes and laissez les bons temps roulez!

Practicalities
For more information about visiting Lafayette click to www.lafayettetravel.com.

Café Des Amis is located at 140 E. Bridge Street in Breaux Bridge, LA 70517. Call 337-332-5273 or visit www.cafedesamis.com.

Find Mulate's, The Original Cajun Restaurant at 325 Mills Avenue in Breaux Bridge, LA 70517. Call 337-332-4648.

Prejean's Restaurant is located at 3480 NE Evangeline Trwy in Lafayette, LA 70507. Phone 337-896-3247 or click to www.prejeans.com.

Randol's is nearby at 2320 Kaliste Saloom Road Lafayette, LA 70508. Phone 337-981-7080, or website www.randols.com.

The Rendezvous Des Cajuns at the Liberty Theater is located in the city of Eunice at 200 W. Park Avenue, 70535. For more information call 337-457-7389 or click to www.eunice-la.com.

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